Ever wonder where Revolver sources its tea?
Every tea in our collection is made from ethically sourced Malawian tea. Our Earl Grey, Everyday Gold, Everyday Breakfast, and Platinum all come from Malawi, a Southern African country just north of Mozambique. Malawi is Africa’s second-largest tea-producing country, yet despite its large agricultural sector, it remains one of the poorest countries in the world.
About Malawi
Malawi is a country about half the size of the United Kingdom, with a population of over 21 million. One-fifth is covered by Lake Malawi, the third-largest freshwater lake in Africa, with some of the richest biodiversity of any lake in the world. While not your typical African tourist destination, Malawi has some of the most diverse and beautiful landscapes in all of Africa. Along the lake is Nkhata Bay, where floating jetties line the shore, supporting the movement and exportation of Malawi’s agricultural produce, including tea.
Running through the length of the country is the Great Rift Valley, a dramatic stretch of mountains, forests and rolling hills. The valley formed millions of years ago due to volcanic and tectonic activity, resulting in fertile soils and a lowland region that extends from Mozambique all the way to the plains of northern Syria. The valley and lake support a large variety of vegetation with evergreen forests, everlasting flowers, and over 300 species of orchids.
Malawi is warm year-round but has two distinct seasons: the Dry season and the Rainy season. During the rainy months, the foliage is in abundance, the hillsides are luscious, and the tea bushes flourish. Tea grows best during this season, with the plants flushing consistently due to the regular rainfall. When Malawi transitions to the dry season, the landscape is met with clearer skies and the cooler temperatures essential in nurturing high-quality tea. Despite the cooler temperatures, it’s not enough to stop the water from drying up. Droughts are common during this season and negatively impact the people and wildlife; you will often see animals assembling around watering holes and an increase in crop failure - damaging the local communities.
Growing Tea in Malawi
Malawi’s mountains provide the perfect environment for tea to grow with their high altitudes and cooler temperatures; this allows the tea to grow slower, giving the plant more time to accumulate nutrients, resulting in its bright, lively flavours that are distinct to Malawi.
The Malawi Tea industry started back in 1891 after Henry Brown moved from Scotland to experiment with different tea-growing environments. He found that the Shire Highlands of Southern Malawi had the perfect conditions for growing black tea, with its high altitudes and fertile volcanic soils. Malawi's tea industry has continued to grow ever since, having been passed down and perfected through generations of tea-growing communities. There are now over 50,000 people working in tea communities and estates in Malawi; they are responsible for exporting over 35,000 tonnes a year.
Satemwa Tea Estate is one of the largest and oldest standing tea estates in Malawi, being founded in 1923 by Maclean Kay, and is situated at the base of Mount Mulanje. Satemwa is a 3rd generation family-owned tea and coffee estate which has been running for over 100 years and produces a range of Black, White, Green and Dark artisanal teas.
In addition to Satemwa, Malawi is home to many smallholder tea farmers and cooperatives. These cooperatives protect the farmers from exploitation and ensure that they are paid fairly for their contribution to their craft. It’s these cooperatives and smallholder farmers that Revolver sources its tea from. As part of our partnership with Our Malawi, almost every tea in the Revolver range is grown in Malawi, with only our Peppermint Infusion being a blend.
Our Malawi Partnership
The Our Malawi partnership aims to support Malawi as one of the world’s poorest countries in moving out of poverty by creating a mutually beneficial co-operative network. The co-operatives allow farmers and their communities to pool together resources and knowledge to improve the working conditions and livelihood of their farmers.
Our Malawi provides aid to smallholder farmers who depend on their agriculture and farming to make a living. In a country impacted by the ever-changing weather patterns, droughts, and climate change, we must help smallholder farmers make a living and assist them out of poverty.
So far, the partnership has increased Coffee Production from 300,000 Kgs to 500,000 Kgs, increased organic fertiliser use across local farmers and brought cleaner water to 37,000 people through One Foundation. They also continue to put aside a portion of the sales from every Co-op Fairtrade product towards the partnership and have supported Fairtrade business for over 25 years.
Revolver is proud to partner with Our Malawi Cooperatives, with a portion of every Malawi product sale going towards the Malawi Federation of Co-operatives' local development programmes, helping to build the local communities and their families. It's part of our ongoing commitment to sourcing exceptional organic, Malawi-origin tea while ensuring the farmers who grow it share in its success.
See more about Our Malawi's mission here : https://malawi.centralengland.coop/